Forwardly mounted tractor sod cutter



Nov. 11, 1952 H. PROVOST FORWARDLY MOUNTED TRACTOR SOD CUTTER 3 Sheets-Sheet- 1 Filed April 6, 1949 Attorney .5 Y j 55: E E

5 i 7 l fi. a 1 .v I .2 F f v i p Nov. 11, 1952 H. PROVOST FORWARDLY MOUNTED TRACTOR SOD CUTTER Filed April 6, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Provost Attorneys NOV. 11, 1952 p ovos'r 2,617,347

FORWARDLY MOUNTED TRACTOR SOD CUTTER Filed April 6, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor fieflrz'provost By w AH: orneys Patented Nov. 11, 1952 oer-"lee FORWABDLY MOUNTED TRACTOR SOD :CUTTER Henri ro o t Mo al, Quebec, Canada Application April 6, 1949 Serial No. 85,790

1 Q eim= (01. $7 -$26) The present invention relates to a machine ior cuttin and bind n so.d..

More specifically, this invention concerns a ma: chine afiixahle to the front or rear of a. tractor .(or other vehicle)v whi h is adapted to. run alon th round. mow the od, undercut a h of od of predetermined width, and bind weds: term ned en ths of such out. see! into. rolls. The .tion r sides generally in the improved m sh: an sms f r c tting and bind ng the. sod, and in the c mb nati n co cneraticn and arran ement thereof.

The main object or the invention i to. provide a m chine of the character .clescrih d which s practical and with which rolls. of .5991 sk l s. may

be out and bound with little lalgor and relatively inexp nsively.

Another important object. res-ides the, pro: vision of a machine of this natur haying .im: proved means fo t pping- (or cutting strips of). sod, and im roved means for automati a ly cutt n su h st ps into. predetermined len ths nd. binding same into rolls.

Still another object is to provide a machine such as. set forth above which includes, means for mowing the sod priorto stripping and hi posing of the sod or grass clippin so. pr duc d- And another object. resides in the nrovi ien of a, machine of this character which is, adapted to perform its. functions lar ely automatica and which may be a justed accordin tov th ill: mensions of the sound units. of see it is desired. to, produce.

other objects and advantages will bec me, an: arent, or be further pointed out in he Ghee-t n tion to. follow.

As an example, and for purposes or il ustra= tion only, a preferred embodiment. of the in i: tion is shown in the annexed drawin s, where Figure 1 shows. a persnective viewor a. e plete. machine operativelr mounted. tront of; a tractor;

Figure 2 shows a side elevation view lon s; tudinally of the machine;

Figure 3. shows a view in elevation parallel to Fig. 2 but with the. machine. illustratedpartty in. section;

Figure 4 shows a perspective. view. of the sod: undercutting components of the machine;

Figure 5 shows in plan view, with the upper portion ofthe sod-undercutter retrieved. h later l s r p. cutter and in icat s how is; arran d relative. to. the. underc e Figure 6. shows a section a on l ne .&6. Qt:

Figure 7 shows a section through the means cushioning the connection between sod=unders cutter and the frame;

Figure 8 shows a section through the transverse-cutter control and gear box and indicates how this mechanism operates to control the cutter which separates the sod strip into finite lengths, and

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 indicate ing a different stage in the operation of this mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein the same reference characters indicate corr.espond-.

ing parts throughout, the machine is seen in Fig. 1 to be mounted so as to run along the ground in front .of a tractor or other vehicle.

The machine has a longitudinal frame include ins lateral bars I... which are carried and sun ported at one end by the propelling vehicle and extend f r ardly th r f, being hump d or arched intermediate the ends as at H to form a frame for the sod binder.

at the front enes. or bar a rass. or s mow unit I i secu ed thereto and. uns on the round. as by wheel 1 Bet n. the. wheels and he inse ted u hi n n support: means i r hlyc lin er- M. and shrins centro ed stcn 1.5 the. att r xten ngdew-n and. be -s cure l. attsh w e laxes- Betwee. wheels it l$ m unt d a mow t w may he or corn veht cnal pe with w irl n bla es and. be ind.

this u t is mou ted. a s ow s ct on. t) a cesi s=en le ed chamber ll into which dir cted he, cutt n s. n. ba k: by th incw rr Cas ll! o the chamber sha ed s t at the erase and leav s so re e pas i o t e b tto r fi r per-t l. era cylin ic or I m a i is. lensid a nt over .ney 2 om. a or ic a the. ru t to a. po forward th eo a leag- Z- h i is; ti d. aro nd this en oi. e ney. In o s as ar hr wn the erase u ting tc,

may hen be di posed o as emed fl ina,

suppl men ary f am -suppo ing wheels 25.- are. positioned laterally Qf the machine just, behind t e m er nd a e rotat h sunner a a f xed d stanc below a '0 by r g l ss 26. Beh ndv e m wer and. s pport. w els 2 is. located. h s d. str p r, incl dingmeans for undercutting the sod and cuttingthe lateral, borders of the strip. The former of; these is suppo te y l s y below frame bars in asby means. of p o s 30 sl deble in ylinde s 3|; u de the colander-coiled shrine. in. the. are .3;

piston downward. Each cylinder is secured rigidly to a bar in upright position, the lower end of piston extending therefrom and carrying the sod-undercutter blade 33 at the bottom of co-extensive legs 34. The cylinder, as well as legs 28 supporting wheels 25, may be further held upright relative to bars ID by means of diagonal bracing such as indicated at 35.

The undercutting blade 33 is supported to lie in a horizontal plane at a distance below the ground level. The blade is triangular and moves with its vertex forward for easier cutting. Moreover, means may be provided for positively determining the distance below ground level at which the blade lies, for example, a hydraulic (cylinder and piston) unit 38 mounted between a crossbar 3T rigidly connecting bars l8 and a crossbar 38 rigidly connecting piston legs 34. The said unit may be controlled from the propelling vehicle through an hydraulic pressure line 39 to urge the pistons (and hence blade 33) more or less downwardly relative to the machine frame.

The cutter for the lateral edges of the strip may comprise, as is well known in the art, a roller 40 journalled transverse the machine forward of piston legs 34 and having at each end a circular cutter or colter 4IA of greated diameter. The roller rides on the ground whilst colters 4 IA penetrate to a depth approximately that of the undercutter and out free the lateral edges of the sod strip. The said lateral cutting means may be journalled between the forwardly-extending arms 4| on each piston leg 34.

A flat plate 42 is supported in inclined position behind the sod stripping means and the sod is directed up the surface of same as the machine moves forward. From the upper edge of plate 42, the sod strip moves onto the positively-actuated, transverse roller bars 3 of a conveyor, and is carried past the transverse cutter into the sod binder.

The transverse cutter and its associated mechanism is best shown in Figs. 1, 3, 8 and 9. The cutter blade 45 is preferably triangular in shape with the lower cutting edge slanting in a vertical plane across and above the upper end 45 of the sod conveyor. The blade is supported upright and transverse the machine, with its wide end 41 and narrow end 48 each secured to an upright bar 49 slidably lodged in a vertically elongated frame 50. Bars 49 may have slots 51 therethrough which slidably enclose a fixed guide bar 52 adapted to further stabilize and to limit the vertical motion of each end of blade 45.

At one end of the blade, preferably the wide end, a mechanism for controlling cutter movement is enclosed in casing 53 adjacent frame 55. To hold the blade releasably in an upright position, a dog 54 may be pivoted to casing 53 in position to engage a projecting lug 55 near the lower end of bar 49. The mechanism may include a Geneva-cross cam 68, and drive assembly therefor, such as is illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. The drive wheel 6!! will be rotated at a speed proportional to the forward speed of the sod cutter (driven, say, by shaft 5| actuated from one wheel 25 through gears 62 and 63, upright shaft 64, and gears 65 and E6) and carries the usual pin 61 on its circumference adapted to engage slots 69 on the cross cam to rotate same an amount equal to'one cam segment. A cross having four segments is shown, although drives and earns may be similarly arranged for different degrees of displacement, hence the cross will only revolve once for each four revolutions of shaft 6|. A projecting arm 10 on the cross will displace dog 54 outward as it comes past the latter by pushing up tail H of the dog. This will allow blade 45 to fall and hence cut the sod strip transversely. As such cutting is completed, the free end of arm 10 catches a further lug l2 projecting from near the top of bar 49 and raises the latter and blade 45 upward, the blade being fully raised as the cross completes its quarter-circle positive displacement. Dog 54 again falls in plac to keep the blade held up as the cross moves on around for another cycle of operation.

Springs 15 may be provided compressed in the upper portions of frames 50 if desired to urge the blade downward with greater than gravitational force.

As th sod passes over the upper end of the conveyor below blade 45, it moves over the narrow platform and into the binder frame. A positively-actuated roller rail '11 urges onward the sod as it descends from the platform, and pushes the leading end of same against the rotatablymounted transverse rails 18 which are journalled between arcuately-curved packing arms 19. (Figs. 1, 2 and 3). The latter are pivoted freely, at their upper ends, on a shaft extending transverse the apparatus. The packing arms and rail are arranged to move to a position approaching the platform (full outline, Fig. 2) by virtue of their weight, and hence cause the onwardly moving strip of sod to be rolled up into a bundle in the binder, a cord 8| forming a loop around said bundle in conventional manner. The cord 8| emanates from a spool in box 82 on top of the binder, and passes through the arcuate reciprocating needle-arm 83 down to a conventional cord-holding and knotting mechanism 84. The needle arm is mounted on a sleeve 85 rotating on shaft 80 under the control of a gear mechanism generally indicated at 86, which is in turn driven in synchronism with Geneva-cros cam 68 through shaft 81, joint 88, shaft 89, joint and shaft 9 I In the movement of cross 68 subsequent to the lifting of the blade, and as the severed rear end of the bound strip passes beyond platform 16, needle arm 83 pivots down so that the needle thereof enter the knotter and cord-holding mechanism through slot 92 in platform 16. The cord mechanism then cuts the cord, knots the loop around the bound sod and grips the new cord end projecting from the needle arm. The latter is then raised upward as a new length of sod moves from the conveyor over platform 16.

As the bundle of sod is knotted, the releasing arms 93 (mounted on a sleeve 94 positively driven around shaft 80) which pivot continually around shaft 80 descend to push the bundle of sod down and out of the binder against the urging of packing arms 19, the latter swinging to the rear (or to the left, Figs. 2, 3). The bound sod drops to the laterally projecting roller rail 95 and drops from thence to the ground.

To aid in rolling the sod in a tight bundle, pivoted arcuately-curved packing plates 96 may be supported from inwardly-projecting blocks 91 on the binder frame, and urged downwardly therefrom by springs 98 as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The positive drive for the various mechanisms described above may be provided from the propelling vehicle. Thus a shaft I80 may be driven from the vehicle, being coupled to a gear box l0l on the top of the binder through joint l02..

The sleeve 94 may be rotated from a drive in this gear box, and a shaft I03 extending downward therefrom may deliver power to the con veyor rails 43 and 71 (through suitable gearing, sprockets and chains as illustrated in Fig. 2) and also to the conventional cord knotting and handling mechanism. A shaft I04 coupled between gear box ll and another gear box I05 on top of the mower unit may deliver power to the latter. From here, a belt drive may rotate the mower impeller, whilst further gearing cuts upright shaft I06 acting through worm I07 and pinion 108 may permit positive rotation of the whirling mower blades (Fig. 2).

Obviously, from the foregoing, the present invention fulfills the objectives hereinbefore set forth. There has been described a practical, improved apparatus for cutting and handling strips of sod, one which is capable of producing large numbers of rolled and bound strips of sod in a comparatively short time and with little efiort. The device comprises improvements in the individual sod stripping and cutting mechanisms, and envisages cutting the sod into strips of predetermined lengths and binding same in a roll. The combination of unitary mechanisms in a comprehensive machine enables the sod to be handled in one operation which has not to my knowledge been possible before.

It will therefore be understood that I do not limit myself to the particular embodiment of my invention herein shown and described, since obviously various alterations might be made therein respecting the size, shape and arrangement of parts, or even as regards the substitution in the combined unit of well-known equivalent unitary mechanisms, without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a sod-handling machine of the character described, a frame adapted to be connected at its rear end to a prime mover and having ground engaging wheels mounted on the forward end thereof, a sod cutting device comprising a pair of vertically extending, spring loaded, extensible legs mounted on said frame, a ground engaging roller adjustably mounted on said legs forwardly thereof, a side colter of greater diameter than the roller mounted concentrically on each end of said roller and adapted to cut parallel side edges of the sod to be lifted, a horizontal, triangular shaped, fiat plate undercutter mounted on the lower portion of said legs and positioned substantially underneath the roller, said undercutter adapted to cut the sod below the surface thereof between the already-cut parallel side edges, extensible means connected between said legs and said frame and acting against the spring loaded means of said legs to positively position said legs vertically and hence determine the depth of cut of said undercutter, a vertically movable plate connected between said legs and said frame and extending upwardly and rearwardly from said undercutter, a horizontal platform carried by said frame in rearwardly spaced relation with respect to the upper end of said plate, a guillotine cutter carried by said frame and arranged to operate in the space between said plate and said platform, and mechanical means carried by the frame deriving power from said ground engaging wheels to periodically actuate said guillotine cutter for cutting the lifted sod strips into lengths suitable for transportation.

HENRI PROVOST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 45,926 Kirk Jan. 17, 1865 195,048 Rauch Sept. 11, 1877 1,516,561 Best Nov. 25, 1924 1,537,412 Daiferner May 12, 1925 1,732,972 Knipfing Oct. 22, 1929 2,401,653 Mohler June 4, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 693,128 Germany July 2, 1940 

